Cupid's Stupid Little Green Arrow
by SuperWhoLockMerlinArrowBuffy
Summary: When Oliver was stranded on the island, everyone missed him. His mother, his sister and his ex girlfriend, but he left behind a best friend too, a best friend who may have been a little more than just that. (TommyxOliver i understand this is a rare ship no flames please :D) M for language! Bad summary!
1. Chapter 1

Tommy's POV

"Oliver Queen is alive." Those words rang through my head like a symphony. It took a few hours for it to sink in. It couldn't be possible. He'd been gone for five years leaving a gaping whole in my chest. But it _was_ true, and I couldn't be happier. I just wondered how much he'd changed. Being stranded on an island for five years had to take its toll.

Once it set in that Ollie was back, there was only one thing running through my mind. I had to see him, I wanted to march right down to the hospital and be with him, but I couldn't. He'd be with him family and getting settled. So I waited.

The entire night I sat on my bed desperately wanting to call the Queen family, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. His family had been through hell. So had I.

Everyone knew that Ollie was my best friend he had been since we were kids. What people didn't know was in the last few years before he was shipwrecked we were more than just that.

We never put a label on anything, not that either of us ever had "relationships" to begin with. Our "thing" wasn't exactly exclusive either. We couldn't risk either of our parents finding out that the heirs to their fortunes were anything less than what the world deemed acceptable, at least that was the reason Oliver gave me.

Luckily, keeping "us" a secret was never too difficult. We were always friends so it wasn't suspicious for us to be in the same places. We would frequent the same clubs and hotels to take "dates" to, and obviously neither of us would spend the night with our perspective date. We would sneak out and into our own private suite, and we would _always_ spend the night together, making sure to leave at different times the next morning to avoid any skepticism.

Eventually we grew bolder. Whenever we were at each other's estates, we would sneak off to any random room in the enormous mansions to fool around in. For a while, things were wonderful, and we were happy, but then Ollie got worried.

One day we were at his place, in one of the many rooms there, and we started to get into things. We weren't too far along, just some light kissing and such, when Thea walked in. Oliver freaked out to say the least. In all the time I'd known him, I had never seen him so scared. He grabbed Thea and went into the hall for a while, as I just sat there awkwardly waiting. Eventually Ollie got Thea to keep our secret, but he was different after that. He insisted our affair take place exclusively in the hotels from then on. I didn't mind, I thought it would fix things, that he'd be less paranoid. He wasn't. Oliver needed reassurance and he decided that dating Laurel Lance was a good idea.

Oliver insisted that Laurel was just a cover, just a small precaution so we wouldn't get caught. I had to admit for the most part things got back to normal after that. We were happy again. There was only one problem, me.

Seeing Ollie, my Ollie with her, and publicly at that, killed me. All I ever wanted was him. I was patient, and loyal and then there was Laurel. Laurel put him on a pedestal, and built up his ego. Normally, if she were just some one-night-stand, this wouldn't bother me, but I _knew_ Ollie. He loved every second that she spent swooning over him. I wanted to hate her, but it wasn't her fault, and I couldn't risk losing him. I let it go.

Then one day we were in one of the suites at some hotel that we used. After a lazy morning spent making love and sipping wine, he decided to announce that he was trying to get his dad to take The Queen's Gambit out, and that he was planning to bring Sarah Lance, Laurel's sister, along. I was suddenly feeling vey conflicted.

Part of me was jealous that he hadn't wanted to take me with him. It wouldn't be too weird of him to invite me on the yacht. We were best friends and it wouldn't have been the first we spent "bro bonding time" on it. On the flip side, I was also relieved.

In a sick way I was glad that Ollie was willing to betray Laurel like that. He would never have even thought to hurt me in such a cruel way. It proved that he loved me more, and it made my heart swell in adoration. Still I'd rather have had him there with me.

"Yachts suck," I said as nonchalantly as possible, "We should just hit up some clubs, or spend the entire weekend in bed."

Ollie smirked, as he began pressing light kisses to the top of my head, "As appealing as that sounds, I've been begging my dad to take The Queen's Gambit out. Besides, it will disprove any suspicion and keep us covered. Plus," he whispered softly in my ear, "imagine how great our 'Welcome home sex' will be."

I blushed as he leaned in and kissed me, before I muttered back, "It'll probably be even better than our 'going away' sex." He chuckled as he picked me up and I gave him a proper going away gift. After we were finished he had to leave and pack for his voyage. As he was about to leave I whispered a soft, "I love you." It was the only time I ever said it and I wasn't even sure if he heard it. That was the last time I saw him before the accident.

After he went missing my life took a downward spiral. I was no longer partying, but just drinking, and no one was too concerned. We were _just friends_ after all, lifelong friends sure, but in time I'd get over it. That's what everyone told me. Ironically I found comfort in the person I least expected, Laurel.

Laurel and I were both grieving and we both cared about Ollie, she just didn't realize that it was in the same way. In a way, we used each other to hold on to Oliver, and give each other the companionship that we'd both been missing. The worst part was, I started to care for her, not romantically, but all the anger and jealousy that I had felt for her faded away, and I finally saw what Ollie had seen in her. She had this amazing gift of seeing the best in people, and Laurel _cared_. She genuinely _cared_ about people and wanted to make a difference, and she loved Ollie. Seeing this side of her made me hate myself.

How could I have been happy that Oliver cheated on her with her sister? Laurel didn't deserve that. As I sat in my room, I wondered how she was coping with Oliver's return, she did after all, still lose her sister.

I glanced at my clock it was nine in the morning so I called the Queen household. I got their maid, Raisa. I could barely form words, it had been so long since I had spoken to anyone there. "Hi, it's Tommy Merlyn. Tell the Queens I would love to join them for dinner."

I spent the rest of the morning getting ready. I think that I tried on hundreds of outfits and spent a ridiculously long time doing my hair.

I drove over to Ollie's. I must have ran nearly every red light, and drove so fast that if a police office had happened to be around, my license probably would have been suspended. I just couldn't get over there fast enough.

I opened the door and there he was. His back was to me, and he froze hearing the door open. There was so much that I wanted to say but all I could manage in that moment was, "What did I tell you? Yachts suck!"

Oliver turned around, and it was almost too much for me to handle. Seeing his face again for the first time in five years, I was breathless. He pulled me in for a hug, and words couldn't describe how incredible it felt to be back in his arms again. I wanted to take him right there on his mother's decorative table, but I stopped myself. Whatever I may have been thinking or feeling, this was about Ollie, he'd been through hell on that island. If anything were going to happen between us, it would have had to be on his terms.

We went into his bedroom, and we just talked. We mainly spoke about what had changed in Starling City in his absence. I had to admit I was definitely curious about what had happened to him on the island, but I wouldn't dare ask. I wanted him to feel comfortable around me.

We mainly just talked about celebrities and sports, even during dinner we kept talking about theses and other meaningless things that happened in the past five years. I certainly had no shortage of things to tell him, he had been gone from civilization for what felt like forever.

Dinner started out lovely. First I tried to made some light jokes about everything he had missed while on the island. Then in a stroke of bravery, Thea asked the one question everyone else wanted to know the answer to, but didn't have the balls to ask for themselves, "What was it like?"

Oliver hesitated for a moment before answering, "Cold." My heart panged, as I pictured him on that island. My poor Ollie, all lonely and cold just wanting to come home for all those years, it killed me. I wanted to shower him with kisses and tell him everything was all right and I wouldn't let anything happen to him again, but I couldn't. He would never forgive me if I had done that with his mother right there.

Instead, I hastily changed the subject, "Tomorrow, you and me. We're doing the city, you've got a lot to catch up on." Everyone relaxed grateful to get on a lighter topic, except Ollie. I could tell he was shaken up from thinking about the island. Even though he tried to act as though he wanted to go to see his family's company, I knew he was anxious. He had the same look on that he used to wear when he thought someone was on to us.

Suddenly, Raisa tripped and Ollie caught her bowl of fruit and said something to her in Russian. "Dude, you speak Russian?" I asked, god that was hot! Ollie never ceased to amaze me. Then Walter commented on it too, and he unknowingly gave Ollie the out that he was looking for.

Oliver was smarter than everyone gave him credit for. He had spent years keeping a secret relationship, he could easily spot on a mile away. He exposed his mother's relationship with Walter, that he soon found out was a marriage, and he just left, but not before giving me a slight pat on the shoulder as a way of letting me know that he hadn't forgotten about me, and then winked at Thea. It was his way of reminding her that whatever he and I had going on, was to be kept private.

I went home after that and I finally got some sleep. I just dreamt about my day with Ollie, and what the next day would have in store for us.

The next morning I was the happiest I had been in five years. Ollie was back and we were going to explore the city together. When I arrived at his estate, Raisa informed me that Ollie was with Thea in her room, catching up.

I raced over to Thea's room to see Oliver giving her something that he must have found on the island. "A rock," I said in fake adoration, "that is sweet! I want one of those t-shirts that say 'My friend was a castaway and all I got was this crappy shirt."

Thea rolled her eyes playfully as she smirked. She turned to her brother, "Don't let him get you into too much trouble, you just got back. Take it slow."

I smiled as I looked back at Thea, it was good for Ollie that she knew about "us", they were always close siblings.

Once we got in the car, Ollie insisted on going to the glades. We talked about his funeral and the welcome home party that I was throwing for him. Then I asked the question I needed to know the answer to with every fiber in my being, "What did you miss the most?"

I expected him to say, his mother or his sister, his bed even. Deep down, I was desperately wishing that he would say me. He said the one thing that I wasn't prepared for, and I was amazed I survived hearing it. "Laurel."

I felt like a dagger had just been plunged through my heart. After everything, could he really love her more than me?

My smile fell as I managed to keep it together, "Everyone is happy you're alive. You want to see the one person who isn't?" He just shrugged like a confused and guilty little boy, so naturally I took him to see Laurel.

I let them have their space, watching from a distance. Laurel was unhappy to say the least, and I felt some residual jealousy that I used to harbor for her resurfacing. _She was the thing that _he _missed the most_, and she couldn't care less. I would give anything to be in her shoes, and she wanted no part of it. Eventually she stormed off and Ollie just looked angry with himself.

We were walking back to my car, when all of a sudden someone shot a tranquilizer dart into my neck, everything was kind of blurry after that. The next thing I remember was Ollie waking me up and saying some guy in a green hoodie saved us from an abduction. As he told me all this, I couldn't help but think that we has hiding something from me. He looked like he used to, when he would lie to his parents about what we spent the day doing. Oliver was keeping something from me, but I wasn't too bothered by it. We _had_ just been kidnapped maybe he just didn't want to go into too much detail.

Ollie's party was coming up and I knew that he would want Laurel there. If I'm being completely honest, I wanted her there too. Like I said, I cared about her, and having her there would make it better. I called her trying to convince her to come. By the end of it she did say that she would consider going, so it was a start.

When the party finally came around I had high hopes that Ollie and I would start, whatever it was we did, up again. I booked us a suite and couldn't wait to see how the evening progressed, that is until I realized that his bodyguard would be one massive cockblock. Ollie wouldn't dare risk us getting caught together and this bodyguard wouldn't let him out of his sight.

I walked over to Oliver handing him a drink, "By my rough estimate you have not had sex in 1839 days." He looked at me with that worried look that he wore when he was afraid someone might overhear us and get the wrong idea. I started suggesting girls, even though we both knew they would just be cover stories for our whereabouts tonight.

Oliver just seemed uninterested as he left my side to go talk to Thea about something. I decided to deduce a good way to get him alone, until Laurel showed up.

Part of me was thrilled to see that Laurel decided to show up. I knew Ollie would be glad to see her there, however I was filled with that feeling of dread that he would fall back into her arms instead of mine. Unfortunately I saw Ollie and Laurel walk upstairs together, definitely not disproving me fears. So I just took another drink and waited for him to come back.

After a little while Detective Lance and the SCPD showed up looking for the guy in the green hoodie that saved Oliver and me. Apparently he robbed some guy named Adam Hunt next door and the police thought the hood guy may have tried to hide in here.

Oliver handled the police by boldly offering a two million dollar reward for anyone who found the guy in the hood. The way he handled it reminded me of why I fell in love with him the first place. He was so confident, like no one and nothing could touch him. Still, even as he handled the police, I knew he was hiding something.

I simply commented on it, "Some coincidence, you asking to have your party here. Hunt getting robbed right next door, and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse."

Ollie didn't like that too much, "If I were you, Tommy, I'd just be happy you're alive."

I finally asked the first question I had once I found out he was back, "What happened to you on that island?"

"A lot," he answered coldly before leaving the party. Naturally I cancelled our suite.

The next day I went to see Laurel. I'm not completely sure why I went there, but I was glad to see her nonetheless. I was able to find out what happened between her and Oliver at the party. According to her nothing happened, and she was usually honest so I believed her. Then I asked about us. I missed the company we shared while we were grieving Ollie, and I had an awful feeling that Oliver just didn't want me anymore, but maybe Laurel did. I loved her, not in the way I loved Ollie, but I could be happy with Laurel. She didn't want anything to do with that though, and I felt even more unwanted than before.


	2. Chapter 2

The next time I saw Ollie was when he was getting legally resurrected. In the eyes of the law, my love would alive again making it official that he was really back. I showed up at the Queen's estate to go with them to the courthouse. Ollie seemed more exasperated with me than anything, but he didn't argue with me tagging along.

The worst thing I have ever experienced was seeing Ollie in the courthouse that day. Hearing him talk about the accident and his father's death was just awful. I wished there was some way that I could take his pain away.

We ran into Laurel after the hearing, and she wasn't at all happy to see either of us. As I was trying to cheer Oliver up he was swarmed by the paparazzi. He managed to get away by speeding off in his car leaving both me, and his bodyguard to ride with his mother. I didn't understand him, all I wanted to talk to him. Actually talk, not catch up, or speak about Laurel, but talk about us.

I decided to give Oliver some space, eh had a lot going on. He probably still had to adjust and I was patient. I left him alone until the dedication of the memorial building in his father's name. The Queens were also going to announce that Ollie was going to be taking a leadership position in the family company, I was so proud of him.

I started scanning the crowd looking for Oliver, maybe we could sneak away undetected and finally clear the air about everything. To my surprise I spotted Laurel, I never would have guessed that she would have come to this. I walked over to her seeing as Oliver was nowhere to be found, "Okay, this is a surprise. Did you show up here by mistake?"

"By invitation, Oliver invited me last night." Her words cut through me like a sharpened blade, especially the final two _last night_. What had they been up to _last night?_

"Last night?" I repeated dumbly.

"Is that surprise or jealousy, I'm hearing?" It was definitely jealousy but it was so not in the way she thought.

I decided to be as honest with her as possible, "Look, I don't want him to find out anything, okay? Oliver has been through a lot." The last thing that I needed was for Ollie to find out that I had been sleeping with Laurel while he was presumed dead. I was trying to get back to where we were before he was taken from me, not push him even farther away.

Laurel gave me a look that read 'You've got some nerve' before saying, "Tommy, we have all been through a lot."

Before I could respond, Walter began to present the dedication. He didn't get too far into his speech, before Oliver interrupted him. He had two girls on his arms he seemed a little tipsy. I stared at him in shock. Oliver was usually pretty good about drinking before events that were important to his mother.

I looked back to the stage where Thea stood looking mortified by her brother's display. Ollie walked up onto the stage and began to speak; he was, quite frankly, making an ass out of himself. He was turning down the leadership role that his mother so desperately wanted him to take, and embarrassing his family in the process. He was putting on a show, this wasn't genuine, and I cold tell by the way he looked when he mentioned his father's name. Whatever his reason for this was, it had something to do with whatever he was hiding. I just didn't know what that was yet.

Eventually he stumbled off the stage and Laurel and I exchanged knowing glances. She thought that Oliver was just back to his spoiled playboy ways. I knew he was hiding something.

A few days later Oliver called me up and asked me to come check out the space for the new nightclub that he had decided to open. Obviously, I jumped at the chance to see him, so I hastily agreed and got ready in record time.

When I met him at the address, I was surprised to see that Oliver had decided to open his new nightclub in his father's abandoned warehouse in the glades. Normally I would have brought this up, but when Ollie got an idea in his head it was nearly impossible to get it out. It was one of the many things that I loved about him.

"So what do you think?" He asked, "Great spot for a nightclub or what?"

"Sweet," I said looking around the place; it was pretty perfect, despite the location. It was well sized and if anyone could make it look awesome it was Ollie. "Though, I've got to tell you man, if you're thinking about calling it _Queens_, I don't think you're going to get the clientele that you were hoping for." It was a subtle dig that he undoubtedly didn't care for but he let it slide.

Oliver just pointed out an area as if I hadn't said a word, "Private office."

I chuckled, it was almost as if it was Ollie's way of letting me know we would be having plenty of fun in this club of his, "For the private one on one meetings, I would imagine."

"Hopefully the occasional two on one meetings." He joked lightly and I laughed, playing along as if the idea of him being with someone else when he hadn't even kissed me since he'd been home didn't make me sick to my stomach.

"Man, are you sure that you want to do this?" I asked. Oliver had just came back to civilization after being gone for five years, and just a few days ago made a fool of himself at a corporate event. This was the most ambitious he had wanted to do . . . well ever, "It's not like you have any experience running a . . . well running anything."

Oliver just stared at me. It was the same look he wore during our only fight. When I begged him not to date Laurel Lance all those years ago. He had just given me that look. That expression meant that this was nonnegotiable and that I could either deal with it or leave.

I sighed as I came up with an idea that would both help him with his club and maybe get some alone time in there. "How about tomorrow night, the two of us, we go and scope out the competition? There is a new club opening downtown. It's called _Poison_, Max Fuller owns it."

Ollie just stared at me clearly growing impatient, "Max Fuller?" I nodded, and he nodded back as if I was some idiot who wasn't getting the big picture, "I slept with his fiancé."

"Yeah before the wedding," I said in recollection. That wasn't a memory I was ever going to forget, Max was pissed to say the least.

His expression didn't change as he continued, "it was at the rehearsal dinner."

I started to laugh again it was so typically Ollie, "The rehearsal dinner _is_ technically before the wedding, right?"

To my relief, Oliver started to laugh along with me as he remembered that night. Suddenly my phone buzzed, "Besides, who stays mad at a castaway," I said glancing at my phone, "Oh damn it, I got to go." Ollie looked slightly disappointed that I had to leave, "Good place," I patted him on the shoulder as I glanced around the warehouse one last time. "See you," I nodded to his security guard on my way out.

Normally I would have just ignored my phone and stayed with Ollie, but lately I felt like I had just been following him around like a puppy, and I wasn't going to just come when he came calling. Ollie wasn't the only one who could play hard to get.

The next evening Oliver and I went to Max Fuller's club as I suggested. Honestly it seemed like a good idea at the start, the club looked cool, and at the least we could get totally wasted, and who knew where the evening would progress. "Oh my, this is going to be killer." I exclaimed as we walked in.

Ollie simply glared at me, "It Max Fuller sees me here, I agree."

I shrugged; I was quite pleased with myself, being able to get Oliver to come here despite clearly not wanting to. It was almost like old times, "Ah, if you want to run a business, you've got to take a few risks."

Then Oliver did the most amazing thing. He told the bouncer not to let Diggle, his security guard, in the club. He had just eliminated the cockblock and it was one more obstacle out of my way. My face must have lit up like the Fourth of July, because Diggle looked annoyed with me, but it didn't matter, Ollie and I would easily be able to sneak away now.

We continued to make our way around the club, when we, much to my displeasure, spotted Laurel. If this was any other night and if I was with any other person then I would have been over the moon to see her, but I had not just gotten rid of one cockblock just to run into another one.

"Oh wow," I said obnoxiously as we walked up to her, "Doesn't you going out and having fun violate some type of law, like the ones that are carved in a stone tablet?"

"That's cute, Tommy," She said not paying much attention to me, all she was concerned about was Oliver, and all he was paying attention to was her. It was like they had forgotten that I was even there.

Then, as if the night weren't going downhill fast enough, Thea decided to come up to Ollie. She was completely wasted, and Oliver was immediately pissed to say the least. I sighed as I ordered two shots- one for Laurel and one for me-as Oliver dealt with her.

I was getting increasingly discouraged. _Laurel plus Thea_ , it was the definition of getting in the way. The two of them were even worse than Diggle, at this rate I was never going to get Ollie to myself.

The real trouble began when Oliver tried to lecture Thea about the company that she kept, things got ugly from there.

"You're one to talk," She slurred drunkenly, "How much do you know about your so called friends over here?"

I immediately started to panic. I had forgotten that Thea knew about what went on between Laurel and I. The last thing that I wanted for Ollie to find out about it this way, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Thea, maybe you shouldn't-"

"Tommy, I think your _BFF_ has a right to know," she said in a snarky tome. My heart panged. Thea knew about the relationship that Oliver and I used to share, and she was just doing this to hurt us.

"_Thea_," Oliver warned her, "Let's go."

She simply ignored him, "Well I guess they never told you. They've been screwing when you were gone."

There was a long and awkward silence. Thea looked quite pleased with herself.

My heart began to fall. I had no idea what Ollie was thinking. I didn't know if I could survive him being mad at me, after missing him for all this time, it would be earthshattering. "Look, man, I-"

"Tommy," Oliver said calmly, looking unfazed, "It's okay." He turned his attention back to Thea, who ended up storming off shortly after.

Then as if the evening couldn't get any worse, Max Fuller spotted us. Max had some of his bouncers escort Ollie into some back room. Instinctively I followed not too far behind. When I entered the room I saw them punch Oliver to the ground before picking him up to attempt to do it again.

"Let him go, let him go, let him go," I pleaded trying to get past the bouncers and to Ollie. Finally I just went around them, and got in between Oliver and them, "I said 'Let him go!'"

I tried, unsuccessfully to push them away, as Oliver muttered in my ear, "Told you he was going to be pissed."

I ignored him as I turned my attention to the bouncers, "If you want to get to him then you're going to have to go through me," Ollie seemed amused by that, there were three bouncers and they were all substantially bigger than me. Sure, I could hold my own in a fight, but not against three guys who could squash my like a bug just by looking at me, "Wow," I looked back to Oliver, "They are probably going to go through me."

When the fight broke out I managed to keep one of them away from Ollie, but the other two were beating on him pretty hard. Then, to our luck, Laurel came and saved the day. Using the self-defense that her father had taught her she beat up Max easily and got him to call of his guys. I had never been so happy that her dad was a detective in my life.

After some awkward silence, Ollie finally spoke up, "Laurel, what Thea said-"

"Oliver," she interrupted, her patience clearly running thin, "Tommy, and I don't need your blessing. And I don't need your forgiveness." She stormed away leaving Ollie and I alone. I looked at him waiting to for him to say something, anything to reassure me. He just walked out of the club, with my following close behind.

After that Diggle took us to some burger joint for us to recover. He motioned to an attractive waitress and I gave a small wave, "Wow, that girl is cute-"

"That's my sister-in-law," Diggle shut me up, and Oliver didn't look to pleased about my comment either, so I backtracked.

"-Who I will never speak to or look at . . .ever," I decided that I needed to take a seat and relax, "I'm gonna go grab a booth."

Oliver soon followed me to the booth that I had plopped down on. All I had wanted to do tonight was have a good time with Ollie, and I couldn't even manage to make that happen.

There was so much explaining for me to do, and I began to babble, "Look, man, about Laurel. I was going to tell you. I was just trying to figure out the right way-"

"-to tell someone you slept with their girlfriend, after they went missing and presumed dead. What there's no greeting card for that." He teased me lightly.

I laughed bewildered, was this really about _Laurel_ to him. Didn't he care that _I _had been in a somewhat meaningful relationship with someone? "Look, It was wrong and I am sorry-"

"Tommy, I was dead," He tried to give me an out, but I felt too guilty and far too neglected not to get some reaction out of him.

"You were with Laurel," _and me_ I thought to myself, "and whether you were dead, or as it turns out _alive_ on a deserted island, you're my friend," _and so much more,_ "and me being with Laurel violated that friendship in about fifty different ways," _One of them being that you and_ I _used to be together._

"Thank you," he said calmly, showing no visible reaction, "but it's okay."

I searched his face looking for any sign that he was mad. If he was angry at least then something I did would have gotten a reaction of him. If he was angry with me, at least then ho would be feeling _something_ for me. There was nothing, his face was perfectly still.

"You are being, really chill about this, I-" I began before his phone started to buzz.

Ollie answered the phone, and began speaking Russian, it was such a turn on, before putting the caller on hold. He looked to me, "It's a Russian model, calling me, can I have a minute?"

I laughed even though I felt like the world was shattering around me, "I can see now why you were able to be so chill, enjoy." I couldn't get away from that booth quick enough. It felt like he was doing these things to punish me, how could he not see how much I cared for him. We finally got to talk after all this time, and then he blows me off for some model, who he's undoubtedly just met. I wanted to just break down and cry, but I couldn't let Ollie see how much this was all getting to me, it would only push him away further. I just waited in the car until Oliver and Diggle came back and dropped me off at home.

The rest of the night I couldn't stop thinking about Oliver's lack of reaction to the Laurel thing. I just hoped that he realized that whatever happened between Laurel and I had nothing to do with my feelings for him. When he was on the island, I missed him terribly, and I needed somebody, and Laurel was there feeling the exact same things I was feeling. I just needed to know that he understood that.

After that night, I felt uneasy about the whole thing, and I just wanted to see a friend. I decided to see Laurel, and of course she was doing the one thing she always did, work, so I went to the courthouse.

I saw her walking down the steps, head buried in a file, and probably getting ready to go home for the weekend. "Oh what I shock," I said grasping her attention, "It's Friday night, what are you doing here?"

"Well," she said walking towards me, "I am an attorney, and this _is_ a courthouse. I think the better question is, what are _you _doing here?"

I decided to get right to the point, "I wanted to talk to you about last night."

"You mean, how I saved your asses?" Laurel smirked, "You're welcome."

I stood up from the bench I had been sitting on, "First of all we shall never ever speak of that ever again. Secondly, I think you know that I meant the other thing."

She closed her eyes as she began to walk past me, "I don't care to talk about that."

"I spoke to Oliver," I said swiftly, and she stopped dead in her tracks, clearly listening to me, "he was surprisingly cool."

Laurel turned to face me, "That's because he knew. Did you see his face, when Thea told him? Tommy, he didn't even blink. Trust me, he knew."

My heart sank. Was it possible that he had known all along? Was that the reason why he had been so distant. "Why didn't he say anything," I said more to myself than to her.

"I don't know," She answered, "maybe because he knows he doesn't have the right to judge me."

_Or me, _I thought to myself. Ollie didn't have the right to be mad with us. All Laurel and I had done was a far less cruel version of what he had done to us all those years ago. It explained why he was so calm and understanding.

When he was here before the accident, Oliver had chosen to be with other people, like Laurel, while he and I were whatever we were, and as for Laurel, he cheated on her with her own sister! The worst part was that he did these things for no other reason other than for his own benefit. How could he be angry with us for coping, when he had done far worse with no excuse.

Even still, I couldn't help but feel that Oliver, angry or not, still didn't want to be with me anymore. I looked at Laurel, she had become my best friend, and I had been increasingly lonely ever since Ollie's return. I just wanted to be someone who I cared for, and who cared about me, and Laurel didn't seem to be in a hurry to get back with Oliver. There was no reason for the two of us not to try and be together.

"There's a silver lining though," I said walking closer to her, "now that the whole truth and nothing but is out, is there a chance now, for you and me?"

Laurel just looked at me and then her shoes, as if trying to come up with a way to let me down easily, I wasn't about to give her the opportunity with out trying to prove myself first.

"You said you didn't think that I was a one girl type of guy," she wasn't wrong, the only serious thing I had even had was with Ollie, and that definitely was not exclusive, "I'm going to prove you wrong."

Laurel gave me a knowing look, "By dating me?"

"By being better," I answered, "by being someone that you deserve and that you _want_ to be with."

"Well," she sighed looking more understanding, "That is certainly a guy, I'd be interested in meeting."

I smiled widely. It may not have been as successful as I had originally hoped, but things were certainly looking up on the Laurel front, "Good, now how about we start, by getting you the heck out of here. Come on it is Friday night." I held out my arm and she linked hers with mine as we walked out of the courthouse.


End file.
